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“We’ll be careful,” said Colin He picked up the laundry bags again before heading for the stairs The trapezius muscles of his shoulders stood out beautifully His biceps and triceps popped “Maybe you should too”

His last words were lost onat his arms

Thirty-One

COLIN

Taking Claudia out to theher to the old, abandoned drive-in theater?

That had been mine

At first it sounded silly, trying so this weird The place was far out in thegrasses, entirely lost to time I’d seen it on the old es No one had seen a o, it looked like

Even so, I loved places like this Places that once held the hustle and bustle of activity and life, but were now totally and co malls, run down factories with all the s broken… if you could say I actually had a hobby, visiting and photographing these places was sort of

Claudia was blindfolded as we drove her up to where the old screen still stood It was half-collapsed backward, but what reh for e intended to do

“We’re here,” I announced, indicating to Brandon that he could remove her blindfold I parked in the first row, up near the screen Pulled up next to a rusty steel pole that I knew once held one of the old speaker-boxes

“U around in complete dismay “Where exactly is here?”

“The Silver Moon Drive-In Theater,” I announced proudly and loudly

Now both Claudia and Brandon were scanning around The place was unrecognizable Utterly dark and deserted Srew from crevasses in the asphalt, where cars once parked to watch the big, gargantuan screen

“I hate to break it to you,” Claudia said oht be closed”

I laughed loudly “Not tonight,” I said “Not for us”